evergrn

Don't call it delusion. Maybe Ikebukuro is an acquired taste. It's not glamorous and it's not where most tourists choose to go. Maybe those who live in Hiroo and Setagaya will look down upon us. But Ikebukuro has the shopping that rivals Shinjuku, amazing depachikas, great cheap hole-in-wall eats (including many great ramen shops), it's not pretentious, and in many ways it reflects the real Tokyo. Of course I'm very partial because, growing up, Ikebukuro was all I knew of Tokyo. But as years go by, I appreciate the area more and more.

I will grant you that the whole Ikebukuro station complex would be terrible if you're in a wheelchair. If you can't do stairs, then a transfer from Seibu to JR could potentially take >15minutes. I don't think Tobu and Seibu collaborated too well with JR in designing barrier-free transfers. And the whole ISP area is not easy to navigate, either.

LapLap

It's not the station and it isn't the facilities, it's the people. When you depend on common courtesy in order to get around (as is the case when you are in a wheelchair) the overriding character of a place asserts itself more than ever.

I take it that "not pretentious" is another way of saying "rude" as in a "not pretentious" person won't even pretend to care for others with different needs and requirements to themselves. The way the area is built up just showcases this "not pretentious" attitude.

evergrn

I see. Did you notice lack of courtesy mostly within the station or all over Ikebukuro? I honestly can't see how people in Ikebukuro are any more or less rude than people elsewhere in Tokyo. To me, Ikebukuro's vibe is more down to earth than Shibuya, for instance. But if you perceive lack of courtesy by others that's more palpable at Ikebukuro Station than at other stations, then I can see that. But I attribute that to the station's poor design. The concourse is always chaotic, it's not spacious enough, and the traffic flow is horrible with everyone seemingly going in different directions. I literally bump into people regularly at Ikebukuro's concourse. Rarely happens in other large stations like Shinagawa or even Shinjuku. And of course everyone else is in a hurry, and so maybe it accentuates your problem there as you perceive it.

Pickles

Ikebukuro is the Tijuana of Tokyo.

jib71

That's something that any regular reader of these pages should know. But do you know the Tokyo of Tijuana?
https://es-es.facebook.com/pages/Tok...83043385145804

Pickles

That "sushi" looks pretty gnarly.

evergrn

What would you call Adachi then?

jib71

The Oaxaca of Tokyo.

mjm

The Walthamstow possibly? :-)

KPT

That implies there's some really good food up there that I'm missing out on

Pickles

Actually the Oaxaca of Tokyo would be more like Okutama. Pretty nice, actually. Adachi, well, there is no word to describe the delicate splendor that is Adachi.

SeriouslyLost

Slough.

gnaget

No, that's Hachioji.

jib71

Nah. Hachioji is Reading.
Slough is Tachikawa.
And some place in Essex (Basildon?) is Adachi.

SeriouslyLost

Nah, I'm talking about the bad parts of Slough, not the good bits.